Tickets for all games are on sale now, click
HERE to view schedules and for purchase options.
Chicago State women's basketball will open the 2023-24 season at home against Loyola Chicago on November 9 at the Jones Convocation Center and compete in tournaments at Cleveland State and Florida International with Power 5 away games at Minnesota and Notre Dame. The Cougars will wrap up the campaign with six of their last seven games in the JCC as they will feature 11 home games in 2023-24.
"We have some great opponents on our schedule this upcoming season," head coach Andrea Williams said. "We are excited to go to Notre Dame. They are two-time former National Champions so it's going to be a beneficial experience for our team.
"The Cleveland State tournament will be a good gauge for our program. The Vikings are an NCAA tournament team and the FIU tourney features some comparable-talent teams with Alabama A&M and another NCAA tournament team in Texas State."
After playing an independent schedule last season, Williams better knows what to expect this year, both building out a schedule and the rigors of competition.
"The learning curve was 'on to the next'," she said. "You have to have short-term memory, watch a lot of film and just be ready and prepared and also know how much they can digest. You can go real deep into scouting but it's useless if they can't retain it or put it into use on the court. So the learning curve, how much can they handle, how much do they understand. A lot of it I've learned is it's going to be about us and find ways to score with depth. But having an independent schedule is tough and you're packed in November and December, surviving until we can get into January and February.
I'm trying to bring in what I like to run in athleticism, durable players is one of the things we concentrated on. We focused on hitting the transfer portal, veterans who have played, stepped on the floor so we don't have that learning curve where true freshmen have never stepped on the floor because once we get going, we're going. We knew we wanted to bring in people who were savvy and could score and do some things and create some mismatches and I think we've done that with our five-person recruiting class (ZiKeyah Carter, Hailey Hohenecker, Evangelina Parrish, Daysha Reid and Claire Simmons). We're trying to attack some of the things with depth, scoring ability, experience and we did those things. I feel like it's a great class with the five people we brought in.
When the calendar flips to 2024, Chicago State will enjoy the comforts of home, playing five home games in January and one in February with the lone away game at Long Island University in Brooklyn, a team they will also host at the JCC mid-January.
"January is going to be nice since we have been able to secure a home schedule so our fans can see us play later in the campaign, after the semester break," Williams said. "I'm excited about our two seniors and the year they are expecting on the court. Ana (Haklicka) and Laura (Segues) have done a tremendous job representing CSU and we're looking forward to the leadership they'll provide our team."
The following is a player-by-player breakdown in Williams' words on her roster:
40 ZiKeyah Carter, C, 6-6, Jr., Waverly Hall, Georgia / Chattahoochee Valley
We went after height. She reached out to us over Twitter and I said 'okay, you're really 6-6, 6-5?' and she is. She is really getting into a good pattern for her. Experience-wise she played a little bit at the JUCO level, started out at DI and then transferred. She's going to provide a tremendous presence in the paint, sitting on a block. One of the key things I loved about her during the recruiting process was, she said 'coach, I just want to rebound and block shots.' She stays in the paint and she's working with our coaches to get really productive with the touches and her passing has improved. She has a high basketball I.Q. for the five player that we look for so she'll add depth, she'll be able to solidify some defensive weaknesses that we've had and she'll be able to score for us.
15 Jacia Cunningham, G, 5-8, So., Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Returning sophomore, we know that she can get to the rim especially on a couple of our offensive sets. She's worked on some of her weaknesses in the summer so she was very intentional with her workouts. She'll be multi-faceted this year. Her three is looking a lot better and stronger. She's grown. She was thrown in the fire and had to play in the perimeter but she's ready to step in and play more minutes for us but understanding the offense and she's always been a bright light on the wing for us.
1 Ana Haklicka, G, 5-7, Sr., Dubrovnik, Croatia
Ana is a tremendous leader. A senior who's going to graduate. It's a different situation where she's going to graduate at Christmas so there's no way to extend her eligibility. She'll go on to grad school and she'll be in the transfer portal where she'll be available to somebody else. She's been a great four-year player here at Chicago State. She can play multiple positions, which is huge. Point guard, any of the wings and then sometimes as an undersized forward because she understands what we're looking for and she can pop that three. She provides solid leadership, a senior, wants to win even more and I think we'll put a team around her that will help her get that.
11 Princess Hester, F, 6-1, So., Spring Hill, Florida
Princess is coming off a knee injury, successful surgery that was leading into the end of last year, into the summer. She's done her rehab, she's fully cleared and been full tilt since we started. She's gaining more confidence. She finds her scoring ways in the face-up position, usually on the baseline out of that four position. She's starting to understand the offense even more, again, one of the younger true freshman last year. Great kid off the court, brings energy for us and again, more depth in the four spot so it's about her getting more comfortable, getting more reps and making sure that knee is really solid.
14 Josie Hill, C, 6-1, So., Rapid City, South Dakota
We are excited about Josie. She's a returning sophomore so a seasoned veteran, played a lot of minutes, looking to score and anchor what we do in the post and she understands that. With the addition of the other recruits and other players around her, limits are being doubled this year. She's a scoring post that can go left and right. She worked on her individual game around the cup so that's been huge and we're on her working on some of the outside sets that we run, limited in her just understanding that but it creates a mismatch where we need it. She's been doing a really good job rebounding but her scoring, her acumen, she knows that they're looking for her and she'll carry us in the post.
5 Hailey Hohenecker, G, 5-3, Jr., Plymouth, Minnesota / Arkansas at Little Rock
Coming in as a true point guard, been to a couple schools. She's really starting to get her understanding. She's a nosey, basketball IQ point guard that knows what we're trying to run and understanding. She's in the office all the time, asking questions, getting extra shots up, getting comfortable, making sure her legs are underneath her. She's provides a different type of point guard than Deuce, our other point guard. She's basketball savvy, wants to get us in stuff and wants to make sure we're trying to help people get in stuff. We're helping her with her tempo and going at a little higher clip, but she finds a way to penetrate, makes the right decisions, finds the open people and really looks to get those posts involved. She's worked on her three-point shot tremendously and she's getting extra shots in the gym. Her adjustment has been phenomenal and we're going to need durable point guards this season.
31 Yzabelle Tevao, F, 6-1, Jr., South Aukland, New Zealand / McCook CC
Yzzy has been a nice surprise. The way we did summer and didn't do summer school here she was able to go back home, to her homeland, and that was good for her. She was excited to come back, has worked on her craft and is feeling more comfortable and she is one of the true stronger posts we can work at the three a little bit on some of our zone sets. She's understanding even more this year and we saw a glimpse of that at the end of last year and she's continuing to improve her ball handling. She brings a nice, old school presence, she'll lull you to sleep and then she'll make a move and make the right move. She also makes the right read on the perimeter. She understands who's open, her eyes are up, and she's big enough and strong enough to throw over those smaller guards so her comfort level is coming along and we're trying her a little bit on the outside, opposed to just inside. Every day she brings something different and we like it.
12 Taylor Norris, F, 5-10, Jr., Rochester, New York
Taylor Norris is a solid five player. She's plays an undersized post. She has really solidified, worked on shooting and being able to nail the face-up 15 footer so she'll be a zone buster for us. If people come out then she can drive by them. She really does a good job of rebounding offensively around the cup, defensively and understanding that role. She's been able to get the green light on face-up 15 footers and she's going to be a junior, going into her third year, so we like that veteran experience.
30 Evangelina Parrish, F, 6-0, Jr., Ypsilanti, Michigan / Schoolcraft College
She was our first recruit on campus, came to visit us this spring. She was excited about the opportunity to play Division I. She's an undersized post, coming from JUCO, and really has some moves around the cup. She's a lefty, which we like, balances the floor out and we're moving her out to the three a bit on some things so she's working on her outside shot, understanding our offense, getting extra work in with our coaches but is hungry for that. She comes from a basketball family, high basketball IQ, so, again, tremendous asset, be able to help us with mismatches and as she continues to understand what we're looking for in our offensive sets we'll get more and more comfortable.
33 Daysha Reid, F, 6-0, Sr., Frederick, Maryland / Longwood
Daysha Reid, right now, is going to redshirt because she's a four-four transfer. We'll see if she's able to get a waiver to go through but, if not, she'll sit for a year then come back to us next year. But she plays and practices every day so it's huge for us, so it's another player that's going to get experience, may not see the floor, but she can score around the cup, one of our finishers, experience coming from where she comes from and then she has the ability to understand, rebound and be durable and that's what we also like. If we get the bright spot, paperwork waiver, that would be phenomenal but, if not, she'll be a great practice player, understands, gets a year under her belt but brings that finishing presence as a four player.
10 Laura Segues, G/F, 5-10, Sr., Castelloli, Spain
Laura is going to be the other senior that is going to graduate. She's another four-year player for Chicago State, so she'll be a traditional spring graduate. She brings that three ball. She just can shoot and fire it. They find her, she gets those feet set, rises up and she's tremendous for us, especially against zones and that quick release. She's starting to work on her game where she finishes with her left hand going to the basket and a little bit more of a rebounder at times when we have to go a little bit bigger. She's excited about her senior year, more comfort and understanding what we're looking for and when she gets her feet set, she's deadly.
32 Claire Simmons, G, 5-10, Jr., Louisville, Kentucky / Indian River State College
Claire's coming to us from a couple of junior college stops. She's excited and brings a veteran presence at the wing, a little bit taller, she can play the two or three. She's just learning daily how I like things set, what we're looking for in our offense, it's not just jack up threes but there's a concept and she's he has a high basketball IQ, she's asks a lot of questions, very cerebral on the wing. She's starting to understand that catch-and-shoots are deadly and that is her game. Anytime it goes inside out, she relocates, she's able to hit that rise up three, which is huge. Then, she's starting to get comfortable driving to the basket so when she understands when her driving ability is open in some of our sets so she's dual faceted where she can score from the outside and slash and get to the rim. So a veteran at the wing, we wanted to be a little big bigger and savvy, but they're going to be very durable for the whole season.
2 Tae'lor Willard, G, 5-6, Sr., Arlington, Virginia
Deuce, as everyone knows her. She's a phenomenal point guard. Smart about what we're running, very cerebral, gets her team in position. She competes every day. She makes Hailey better, Hailey makes her better so it's a great combination and competition at that one spot. Either one can do it, but Tae'lor especially can slide over to the two so she can get more scoring opportunities in some of the sets that we run. She came back in shape, really worked on her body, worked on her mindset and then getting a lot of shots and reps and being more deadly from the outside. Again, scoring guard, smart, wants to win, a true competitor so it's nice to have as a point guard running the show and she's excited about this year, more confident in what we're doing and we've surrounded everybody with more pieces and parts that can score and they're starting to see it.
"We're pretty positive," Williams said. "You always want to stay healthy. I think we've added some key pieces that present some problems for some people. The veterans have run our stuff for a year so they're feeling a little bit more secure and understanding what we're looking for and the tempo and what it's going to take so we're excited about that. So, cautiously optimistic but, again, it's short turnaround and we're doing something no else in the country is doing with the turnarounds so we're just trying to toughen up mentally."
Williams is entering her second year as head coach of the Cougars and is looking forward to helping the program take that next step forward.
"I'm just excited," she said. "I've got a great staff in place. We brought in two younger coaches and I feel we've set the program in a good direction. I think the schedule's challenging, we've got many back-to-back games, we're going to have to have people ready and available but I think the energy and excitement is there and we've added depth with the five-person recruiting class, people coming back and understanding and our work tempo has been phenomenal in what we're doing in practice so I'm excited. We've put them in good position, we have great opponents and I really think we'll be able to do some things and get the culture gong in the right direction."
About Chicago State Athletics
Chicago State University Athletics is composed of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994.
Follow the Cougars
For complete coverage of Chicago State University athletics, follow us on social media @ChiStateCougars (Twitter), @ChiStateCougars (Instagram), /ChiStateCougars (Facebook), or visit the official home of Chicago State athletics at GoCSUCougars.com.
